She moved aside the boy’s tunic to reveal a large weeping wound on his leg. The boy whimpered as his mother gently turned his leg, and Lilliana’s heart squeezed with sympathy.
“Oh dear, that must hurt quite a bit.” She picked up some willow bark from her medicine bag. “Once you’re home, steep this in hot water and give him some to drink all day. It will help with the pain.”
The woman nodded gratefully, coming closer to take the herb.
“Now, I need to clean his wound and dress it. It will hurt,” Lilliana warned.
The mother seemed unsurprised.
Lilliana pointed to the bench they’d been sitting on. “Have a seat and let me begin.”
The boy sat, and Lilliana mixed some water and salt, regretting the sting she would inflict on the poor child, but there was no way around it. His mother held out his leg, and Lilliana poured the lukewarm water over it, letting the liquid clear the pus.
The boy screamed and then began to cry. Lilliana was gratified at how steadfastly the mother held the boy’s leg, no matter howmuch he struggled. She exchanged a commiserating look with her before letting up on the salted water.
“This will soothe the wound a bit,” she said softly, taking up a jar of honey and spreading it evenly over the wound.
She thanked the heavens that it was too cold for flies before spreading more honey on a cotton cloth and covering the wound with it.
“Make sure to wash his wound and dress it daily. I will give you some honey and salt to put in the warm water. Do you understand?”
The mother nodded tearfully. “Thank ye, Me Lady,” she said.
“My pleasure.”
Betsy packed the simples for the woman in a small cotton bag and handed them over.
Suddenly, what little sunlight had managed to penetrate the cloud cover was blocked. Lilliana looked up to see who was obscuring the warmth of the sun and stiffened when she saw Kayden glaring at her.
“What are ye doing?” he asked.
She cocked an eyebrow. “Is it not obvious?”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “Daenae play games with me. I told ye, ye couldnae treat the villagers.”
“You said I could come!”
“Come hand out the supplies, naetreatthe villagers.”
“It was just one. Theonlyone who has come up to the stall. We have not even been able to give these away so far. No one has come up except that woman and her boy, and I was able to heal him, so I did.” She stared at him, surprised by his reaction.
“I daenae appreciate being undermined at every turn. Give ye the slightest bit of rope, and ye just take off and run with it.”
She shrugged. “Well, it is done now. Shall I call them back and remove the bandage from the boy’s leg and take back the salt and honey I gave them?”
“It is nae yer place to—” A loud scream cut his words short, and they turned to see a young lassie had collapsed in the middle of the square.
Kayden watched incredulously as Lilliana rushed towards the child. He had followed her as soon as she left the castle and had been watching, feeling a little sorry for her as most of the villagers ignored her.
What does she think she can do? They willnae even let her near the girl.
Lilliana was on her knees in the mud, back bent forward as she hovered over the child, seemingly grappling with her.
“Hold her still, please. I need to get this between her teeth,” she told the child’s companion, who was in hysterics.
The woman did not seem to hear her, so Betsy knelt and held the child while Lilliana got whatever it was inside the child’s mouth.
Kayden moved closer, his curiosity piqued. He peered over Lilliana’s shoulder to find that she had placed a stick in the child’s mouth and was now cradling her head.
